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Spurred on by a poll showing three-quarters of British Columbians supporting a heightened minimum wage, John Horgan looks to be gambling that Justin Trudeau's left-ward shift is the way to electoral victory.

The Liberal red tide wiped out half of the Conservative MPs in B.C., leaving only a “couple of bright lights” to serve in a shadow cabinet for the Official Opposition, said a University of B.C. political professor.

The number of B.C. MPs remained unchanged for the NDP on election night, but disappointed supporters wondered what might have been had the party not tanked in the polls during the 11-week campaign. Longtime supporters such as political commentator Bill Tieleman blamed the drop from first to third place Monday on a “front-runners” strategy that was playing it too safe.

Liberal candidate Sukh Dhaliwal has unseated New Democrat Jinny Sims to become MP for the new Surrey-Newton riding, which had been anticipated to be one of the tightest races in Metro Vancouver. At deadline, Dhaliwal had won the seat with 57 per cent of the vote, more than doubling the incumbent Sims’ 25 per cent and winning by close to 2,900 votes.

A “humbled” Dianne Watts thanked her supporters on Monday night after narrowly winning the riding of South Surrey-White Rock for the Conservatives, and promised to hold the newly elected Liberal government accountable. “As a Conservative I will represent this riding and I will take the issues of the people of this riding forward to Ottawa,” Watts told a jubilant crowd.

Three of the four candidates vying to be Canada’s next prime minister wrapped up a gruelling 78-day campaign — the longest in modern Canadian history — Sunday in battleground B.C. Liberal leader Justin Trudeau capped off a hectic Western swing in Alberta and B.C. with a rally in North Vancouver, a riding represented by his maternal grandfather James Sinclair more than five decades ago.

A stunning jump in early voting turnout across B.C. seems to be the product of a gruelling three-way race that could see Canada’s next prime minister crowned by this province’s voters, political scientists say. But one expert cautions that a surge in early voters seen in B.C. and across Canada doesn’t necessarily predict a higher turnout for Monday’s federal election or a strong appetite for political change.

By releasing a B.C.-specific campaign platform during a closely fought election, the federal New Democrats are copying a Liberal strategy from more than a decade ago. Back in 2004, the Liberals under then-leader Paul Martin released a document called a “Made-in-B.C. Agenda” designed to woo B.C. voters.

With less than a week until the federal election, B.C. has turned into a key battleground and there’s a tight three-way race for the province’s 42 seats. A razor-thin margin separates the three major parties in B.C., according to the latest projections from CBC polls analyst Éric Grenier, the Toronto Star’s election forecast from Vox Pop Labs, and the Laurier Institute for the Study of Public Opinion and Policy — all of which predict the Conservatives, Liberals and NDP will win between 12 and 15 seats each. All three also predict one seat for the Green Party in B.C.

With election day looming and Stephen Harper trailing, the Conservative campaign has morphed into a sort of game show with Harper playing the role of Bob Barker. For the second time this week, Harper used props and sound effects — piles of $20 bills and the sound of a ringing cash register — to warn voters against threatened Liberal tax hikes.

A group that encourages voters to cast their ballots strategically has recommended NDP candidate Mira Oreck in the newly established riding of Vancouver Granville. The recommendation by Leadnow comes despite recent poll results that show Oreck is trailing Liberal candidate Jody Wilson-Raybould.

The Conservatives say that if they are re-elected they will formally list groups such as the Hells Angels as criminal organizations in an effort to “crack down on criminal gangs” and streamline prosecutions. However, a criminologist said such an initiative would be difficult to implement and not useful as a law-enforcement tool.

Former prime minister Jean Chretien is the antithesis of the modern politician — unfiltered, unpackaged, and unapologetic. Chretien, 81, now general counsel for international law firm Denton’s, arrived in Vancouver on Wednesday for a client dinner and various meetings, and was scheduled to fly back to his Quebec home first thing Friday morning.

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